The International School of ChoueifatPrincipal & Leadership Team

Principal Hisham Hassan, appointed on 22 June 2014, leads The International School of Choueifat with the support of two deputy directors, Mohamad El-Khatib and Hiba Najdi. With over a decade in post, Hassan represents a rare degree of leadership continuity in Dubai's private school sector — a meaningful signal of institutional stability for families considering long-term enrolment. The school is operated by SABIS, a global education network founded in 1886 and active across more than 20 countries, whose centralised curriculum and management systems shape much of how the school is run day to day.

DSIB's 2023–2024 inspection rated the effectiveness of leadership as Good — the one area where the school outperforms its overall Acceptable school rating. Inspectors noted that leaders align with both SABIS and UAE priorities and foster positive staff morale. However, the report identified meaningful gaps: the self-evaluation system lacks accuracy, pursuit of previous inspection recommendations has been inconsistent, and governance was rated Acceptable, with inspectors specifically noting that it lacks diverse representation. Middle leadership capacity was also flagged as an area requiring development, with inspectors recommending targeted investment in leadership skills to strengthen self-evaluation and improvement planning.

Teaching quality is uneven across the school. High school teachers display strong subject knowledge, and teaching in the high school was rated Good by DSIB. However, teaching across KG, Primary and Middle was rated only Acceptable, with inspectors citing ineffective use of assessment data to plan differentiated lessons and a tendency toward teacher-dominated delivery. A particularly pressing concern is the inspection recommendation that governors appoint qualified teachers in Islamic Education, Arabic, English and Inclusion — implying that some current post-holders do not meet qualification requirements in these subjects.

On staffing numbers, the school's student-to-teacher ratio stands at 1:26 — significantly higher than the Dubai private school average of 1:13.6 across 204 schools with available data. With 3,918 students taught by 164 teachers and supported by 30 teaching assistants, class sizes are a material consideration for parents. Teacher turnover was reported at 19% in the inspection findings, a rate that warrants attention and may contribute to the inconsistencies in teaching quality observed across phases. Staff qualification data beyond subject-specific concerns is not published [MISSING: overall percentage of staff holding postgraduate qualifications].

Parent engagement is a recognised weakness. Parental involvement was rated Acceptable by DSIB and described as inadequate in the inspection narrative — an area explicitly listed among the school's key recommendations for improvement. On the positive side, the school's SABIS Student Life Organisation (SLO) is a genuine cultural strength, providing structured student leadership opportunities across all year groups and earning specific praise from inspectors. Wellbeing provision was also rated Acceptable overall, with inspectors noting that students report feeling welcomed, supported and a strong sense of belonging — evidence that the school's pastoral culture, if not its governance structures, is functioning well.